Projection screens for home, commercial or industrial purposes and various other rollable materials such as display charts may be provided in a tubular housing hereinafter referred to as a tube, having an axially extending slot through which the screen can emerge and provided internally with means enabling the screen to be wound up upon a rod or core within the tube.
For use, a member attached to the screen can be tugged by the user to withdraw the screen against the spring force of the rollup device and extend the screen to its full height.
When the use is terminated, the screen may be allowed to reel into the tube which protects the screen and forms a compact package therefor.
Such screens are generally associated with a post to which the tube is connected by a stirrup-shaped holder forming a handgrip and attached to the tube by a screw.
The post itself may be telescopically extensible and/or provided with legs, e.g. in a tripod arrangement so that the assembly may be freestanding.
The holder, as described, generally permits rotation of the tube about the axis of the screen so that, when the screen is in use, the tube lies horizontally and transverse to the post which is held in its upright position by the legs. However, once the screen has been rolled up into the tube and it is desired to store and transport the assembly, the tube can be swung about the axis of the screw until it lies parallel to the post.
This system has a disadvantage in that the connection of the tube to the post to enable the displacement of the tube between its operative and inoperative positions, requires that the tube always accompany the post and vice versa. In other words, the tube and the screen contained therein can only be utilized in conjunction with the post.
This disadvantage of course, means that it is impossible to readily utilize the screen in conditions in which a post may be impractical or unusable. Of perhaps greater importance, however, is the fact that the tube and screen on the one hand and the post, tripod and like elements on the other may be relatively heavy especially for higher quality screens and their supports, so that the assembly can only be transported by strong individuals, e.e. the tube cannot be removed from the post assembly to enable these two parts to be carried separately, e.g. by different individuals. Obviously this is a considerable handicap for smaller or less strong individuals.